3. Overnight Oats – Easy to throw together the night before & quick to enjoy in the morning. You can put frozen fruit straight in and the juices soak into the oats as they de-frost – Delicious! The ones here are cherry bakewell (bit of a fave), but you can use lots of different fruit/flavour combinations.

What is No Count?
At WW meetings we have been talking again about No Count. The idea behind this ‘diet within a diet’ is that you can eat as much as you like from a set list of foods but you must stop when you feel full. You also get an allowance of oil and milk to use each day. If you want to eat anything that is not on the list, then you can still use points from your weekly allowance. The foods on the list are chosen because they are nutritious and satisfying – so are things like lean meats, wholewheat carbohydrates etc (see the WW website for a full list). The pictures on this post are all e.g.s of No Count meals.

I have done No Count in the past with varying degrees of success (week 1 – I lost, week 2 – I put on) but this time have decided to try No Count days mixed in with Smartpoint days.

Jacket potato, prawns, quark, hot sauce

The pros of No Count:
No weighing and measuring, no pointing and you can eat more of foods you wouldn’t normally eat as they are too many Smartpoints (such as baked beans). I like the oil and milk allowance because this is WW trying to support you in being healthier, and I wouldn’t necessarily have these things normally. This diet may be easier for people who have more to lose and therefore get more weekly points to spend on extra bits. Many people who I have spoken to at WW do No Count all of the time as they find it easier. You can still eat out whilst following No Count, but it would probably mean your meals have to be quite simple (such as steak and a baked potato) or you could use weeklies for your sauces etc.

No Count Spaghetti Bolognese

The cons of No Count
You can’t really save all of your weeklies until the weekend if you are having to use them up on things like ketchup or cheese. I’ve found this quite tricky as I usually make my daily Smartpoints allowance stretch to cover all meals and snacks each day. A lot of the time I felt like I was cheating and a bit out of control because I wasn’t weighing and measuring – I worry that I eat portions that are too big and have lost the ability to recognise when I am full.

Weigh-in
After following 2 days of No Count and 5 days of Smartpoints (although I did have a meal out and drinks at the weekend which I saved my weeklies for, but wasn’t able to calculate the points) the result was, that I stayed the same. This is a good result as I am currently maintaining.

My overall thoughts on No Count
No Count could be good for me on the odd days that I want to feel like I am eating a lot and it does make you feel full, but on the whole I prefer Smartpoints because I like the control and being able to have meals out and treats in the evenings.

Should you try No Count?
I would definitely recommend you give No Count a go if you are curious to try it. you should be able to get a handy booklet about it from your leader or check out the WW website. There is also a No Count cookbook which WW are currently selling which seems to be very popular. There are also No Count recipes featured in the WW magazine. The app can convert to No Count, but if you do what I did and do a few days of each, it doesn’t really work as the app can’t seem to cope it, but it is possible to work around this by only tracking things you know aren’t No Count.